RELATED: NSCS ready to race in the rain
Most NASCAR drivers cringe at the sight of rain in the forecast. Not this weekend. At least not Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The No. 88 driver wants to put on the Goodyear radials and fire up those windshield wipers at Watkins Glen.
"There's a lttle rain in the forecast for Watkins Glen. I know it's early, but that would be crazy," he said on the Dale Jr. Download on Dirty Mo Radio after returning from Sunday's race at Pocono. "I've never raced in the rain and a lot of guys haven’t and I’m excited about that opportunity to do that. That would be fun."
Several current Sprint Cup drivers have run a bit in the rain. The rain tires came out for the 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Steve Wallace all finished in the top 10 of that race, won by road course specialist Ron Fellows, who was driving for JR Motorsports.
"I've run the 24 hours of Daytona in the rain but never drove a big, heavy stock car around a track in the rain. I'm anxious to do that, to be honest with you."
Junior raced in that rainy 24 Hours of Daytona in 2004 on a team with Tony Stewart and Andy Wallace, a British racer, piloting a Chevrolet-powered Crawford.
After that event he said, "I love it. I was looking forward to driving in the rain. I spun it out there once, but I held my position, and that's all I care about."
The Wallace-Stewart-Earnhardt Jr. team finished fifth.